The CrossFit Open has a lot of different implications than prior years. The ability to qualify for the CrossFit Games directly out of the Open puts a lot of pressure on the top athletes to finish in the top 20 worldwide or be #1 in their country. The top CrossFit Games athletes have almost always done well in the Open, the new format provides no room for error.
There are still three weeks left in the Open and one bad workout could remove an athlete from contention. But knowing the leaderboard WILL change between now and March 25, let’s take a look at who would be getting an invite to the Games if the Open ended today.
Men
The lists below represent 40 athletes who would receive an invite to compete at the 2019 CrossFit Games if the Open ended today. Joining them would be the Sanctional winners to-date – Mat Fraser, Patrick Vellner, James Newbury, Sean Sweeney and Bronislaw Olenkowicz (interview).
Of these 45 athletes, 21 are Games veterans. A majority, if not all, are Regional-level athletes.
National Champions*
- Zachery Buntin – USA (check out our interview with him)
- Alex Vigneault – Canada
- Bjorgvin Gudmundsson – Iceland
- Frederik Aegidius – Denmark
- Lefteris Theofandis – Greece
- Lukas Hogberg – Sweden
- Lazar Dukic – Serbia (check out our interview with him)
- Alexandre Pinsolle – France
- Piotr Szcyzinski – Poland
- Zack George – United Kingdom
- Bayden Brown – Australia
- Martin Kruzlic – Slovakia
- Manfredi Ottavi – Italy
- Joshua Wichtrup – Germany
- Luke Fiso – New Zealand
- Kristof Horvath – Hungary
- Roman Khrennikov – Russia
- Lukas Esslinger – Switzerland
- Jason Smith – South Africa
- Alexandre Veloso – Portugal
*The list above shows the top 20 national champions, ranked after 19.2. There are many more national champions…too many to list on a hypothetical analysis.
Top 20* Worldwide
- Jason Carroll
- Travis Mayer
- Jean-Simon Roy-Lemaire
- Eric Carmody
- Matt Morton
- Simon Mantyla
- Michael Palomba
- Sam Kwant
- Alexandre Caron
- Jeffrey Adler
- Paul Castillo
- Adam Klink
- Samuel Cournoyer
- Cole Sager
- Travis Mead
- Uldis Upenieks
- Casper Gammelmark
- Ethan Helbig
- Jacob Heppner
*includes additional invites for National Champions who are inside top 20 worldwide.
Women
Similar to the men, the list of 40 qualifiers below is full of Games veterans. There are 17 women who have competed at the CrossFit Games as an individual. But unlike the men, the Sanctional winners to-date are either 1st in their country or in the top 20 worldwide. This means the invite list would be a little different than what is shown below. The five Sanctional qualifiers so far are Sam Briggs, Maddie Sturt, Tia-Clair Toomey, Katrin Davidsdottir and Sara Sigmundsdottir.Who Would Qualify For The Games If The Open Ended Today?
National Champions*
- Sara Sigmundsdottir – Iceland
- Karin Freyova – Slovakia
- Dani Speegle – United States
- Laura Horvath – Hungary
- Gabriela Migala – Poland
- Caroline Prevost – Canada
- Kristin Holte – Norway
- Katelin Van Zyl – Australia
- Jamie Greene – New Zealand
- Sona Karaskova – Czech Republic
- Manila Pennacchio – Italy
- Renata Pimentel – Brazil
- Anastasiya Marino – Russia
- Sam Briggs – United Kingdom
- Emma McQuaid – Ireland
- Camilla Salomonsson-Hellman – Sweden
- Stine Pinilla – Denmark
- Laura Gonzalez-Marin – Venezuela
- Emilia Leppanen – Finland
- Stephanie Schabl – Austria
*The list above shows the top 20 national champions, ranked after 19.2. There are many more national champions…too many to list on a hypothetical analysis.
Top 20* Worldwide
- Amanda Barnhart
- Annie Thorisdottir
- Mekenzie Riley
- Brooke Wells
- Kristine Best
- Brooke Haas
- Katrin Davidsdottir
- Melissa Doll
- Chyna Cho
- Rachel Green
- Meg Reardon
- Jadzia Truszowski
- Kari Pearce
- Tia-Clair Toomey
- Alison Stall
- Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault
- Hayley Murillo
- Colleen Fotsch
- Feeroozeh Saghafi
- Ehea Schuerch
*includes additional invites for National Champions who are inside top 20 worldwide.
